Emergency lighting on police or other public service vehicles has been used for many years. Generally, such lighting is mounted on the exterior (usually the roof) of the vehicle in order to provide high visibility to nearby motorists and pedestrians. Exterior mounting also minimizes the possibility that the light produced by the lighting system will adversely affect the vision of someone in the vehicle.
Light bars are generally the most desirable type of emergency exterior lighting because of their ability to provide a wide variety of types of illumination. Typically, the light bar is a unitary rectangular unit which spans the top of the vehicle and is supported by brackets attached to the vehicle. It is desirable that the light bar produce an intense light for maximum visibility.
Prior non-modular light bars have had predetermined lengths (the length of the bar generally corresponding to a width of a vehicle to which the bar is mounted). In order to size light bars for vehicles of different width and for various applications, non-modular light bars of varying length were manufactured which in turn required molds of varying size, one for each length manufactured. Frequently, each length accommodated a different number of light sources so the light source configuration was uniquely customized for each length. In addition, since prior light bars were non-modular structures, maintenance usually required that the entire light bar would have to be disassembled and reassembled.
Prior modular light bars have had modules of predetermined lengths but these lengths have been rather large so that only a few incremental sizes of such modular bars have been available. Sometimes modules of varying length were manufactured which in turn required molds of varying size, one for each length manufactured. Frequently, each module accommodated a different number of light sources so the light source configuration was uniquely customized for each module.
There is a need for a light bar configuration having varying width and having selectable light sources of differing types which can be positioned at various places within the light bar. There is also a need for a light bar having modules which can be assembled without the need for a uniquely customized light source configuration. There is also a need for a light bar having modules of smaller size, each of which can be maintained without the need for disassembling and reassembling a large portion or several modules of the entire light bar.